Where to go for treatment....NC or VA

Monday, August 9, 2010 Woke up late this morning.  We drove home from NC last night and got caught in construction traffic so didn’t get in until 1:00am.  Slept hard and woke up with the “I am God in Health” thought.  Talked to Lynn – I forgot that Jerry is going through lung cancer treatment so she had some good advice.  Her strongest was that I need to have treatment where Ron and my friends are located. Ron is a major source of strength for me and she pointed out that it would be tougher for him if he is driving back and forth.  Plus she and friends like her all want to pitch in and help and they are here and not in NC.  I had to agree with her reasoning so decided I would spend today looking for a local team to treat me. Started by looking for local hospitals with breast centers – Reston Hospital, INOVA, Washington Health Center, and Virginia Hospital.  Really like the feel of INOVA , its website and its approach.  Appears to be a team approach and they have “breast navigators” who will work with you- help you get questions answered, set up appointments etc…I think they are my first call and Ron came to the same conclusion when we looked at all the websites tonight.  Our second choice is WHC.  Shannon (daughter in law) sent me info on both of them and she is also affliated with the MRI center at both so she can advocate for me as well. Called the radiology center where I had the biopsies done – they let me pick up a copy of my results – so we finally have a name for what I have “poorly differentiated invasive ductal carcinoma”  - Still don’t know what stage etc… but it appears to be one of the more common cancers.  I’m actually feeling very empowered today.  Knowledge is power and I feel like I took back a little control today. My biopsy sites are covered with yellow bruises but don’t hurt as much as they did a couple of days ago. Today is a new moon in Leo – my 10 wishes are all rolled into one big one…. Help/Let Ron and I go through this with courage and dignity and come out with a clean bill of health at the end. Dinner at Amphora tonight – we both decided breakfast for dinner sounded pretty good – and yes I enjoyed a few bites of the blueberry pancakes J  somehow trying to stay gluten free doesn’t feel so important right now. Ps…one of those crazy little things….A friend who has been staying with me called to tell me she has head lice – so now I’m washing bedding and feel like I have an itchy scalp….eeeuuuuwwww  J